Look After You
by Cockapoo
Summary: A collection of oneshots set after Midnight Eyes. The title comes from the song by The Fray. R&R!
1. Now and Forever

**A/N: Oneshot! Nico and Lily, for everyone who requested some oneshots of them after ME ended! So here you are, thank you for being patient! **

Now and Forever

Lily stood in front of Annabeth's mirror, checking her reflection one last time. Jessie had twisted her dark hair up into an elegant sort of updo, with a few wavy tendrils down to frame her face, and Lily had been forbidden on pain of death to touch her hair. Jessie had declared that she would probably ruin it. Turning, Lily admired her outfit – her sister-in-law had insisted on picking it out. Grimacing as she remembered Annabeth's no-nonsense tone when giving it to her, Lily felt her expression change into a smile as she remembered Percy and Annabeth's wedding over the summer. It had been the sweetest thing; Percy had chosen Montauk as the venue. Lily glanced down at her own bare finger, feeling a slight pang of disappointment. Then she sighed, irritated with herself. She was only twenty-four, there was plenty of time for a proposal and marriage.

Her dress was a deep scarlet in color, and it fit her like a glove. It had a sweetheart neckline, and black sequins decorating her small waist. She had slipped on five-inch heels for the occasion, black to match the sequins. The dress stopped a few inches above her knee – neither too short nor too long. Perfect. Makeup was minimal, and jewelry…a matching set of platinum hearts as earrings, and a plain necklace with a platinum heart dangling on it. All the hearts decorated with sparkling diamonds, a birthday gift from Nico this year. Ah, the perks of having a boyfriend whose father controlled the earth's supply of precious metals.

"Lily!" Annabeth shouted from outside, knocking on her door. "Come on out, almost everyone's here! We're waiting on you!"

"Coming!" Lily called, rubbing a vanilla scented lotion into her wrists, elbows, and neck before leaving the room.

Downstairs – in Percy's home, of course – the party was in full swing. It was New Year's Eve, and Annabeth and Thalia had been in charge of decorating. The house, naturally, had been decorated with various shades of silver and gray, but the overall effect was stunning. The Christmas tree in the corner sparkled with colored lights and ornaments, and scented candles had been clumped throughout the rooms, bathing the walls in a warm flickering light.

"Jessie!" Lily hugged her friend tightly, stepping back. Jessie was wearing a Camp Half-Blood t-shirt and jeans, and Lily raised her eyebrows but didn't comment. The t-shirt was incredibly baggy on the archer's slender but curvy frame, and Lily had a sneaking suspicion that it was Leo's shirt her friend was wearing. But she decided not to comment.

"Have you seen Nico yet?" Jessie asked, a gleam in her eye.

"No, is he here?" Lily's eyes swept the crowd, but either Nico hadn't yet arrived, or he was doing an excellent job of hiding in the throng.

"Yeah, he was talking to Leo a few minutes ago. Something about Superbowl plans or something." Jessie motioned over into a corner. "They were over there, last I saw them."

"Okay," Lily said, maneuvering through the people, occasionally stopping to say hello, before finally reaching the dark corner Jessie had indicated. But it was empty.

"Looking for someone?" A deep voice said behind her.

Lily grinned, turning. "Definitely not you," she said, looking over Nico's shoulder, cursing the fact that he was still much taller than her, even with her insanely high heels on. "There was this really cute guy I was talking to a minute ago, and I thought if I came here he'd follow, but –"

She was cut off when Nico's mouth smashed down on hers, and Lily couldn't help moaning as he nibbled on her bottom lip, swiping his tongue along after his teeth before suddenly plunging in. He slammed her against the wall, one hand tilting her head back and up, the other low on her hips.

"You," he growled, pulling back slightly, "Are not allowed to kiss anyone else. Ever. Even look at. Got it?"

Lily fought a smirk. Nico was still very much the same – but he'd grown from their teenage years, into a tall, intoxicatingly handsome young man with the silkiest hair she'd ever run her hands through. The addition of extra muscles, the product of spending hours in the gym with Percy every week, had been another bonus. But he was still possessive, still easily angered, and still incredibly sweet.

"Mmm," she said, reaching up and pulling his head down, trying to kiss him again. The first one had been too short to be adequate.

But Nico was being frustrating. Instead of kissing her, he bent even further down, his lips latching on to her neck, kissing the skin there lightly. "Got it?" he breathed against her skin, before suddenly scraping the newly-kissed spot with his teeth. Lily cried out softly, her nails digging into his shoulder, her fingers gripping his hair. Nico bit down, suckling and biting with a nearly furious passion, and suddenly eased up, feather-kissing the new mark he had created. "Got it?" His whisper was husky in her ear.

"Yes," she breathed, kissing his earlobe.

With a choked sound of relief, Nico bent over her again, and this time Lily smiled as his mouth met hers again. His lips parted for her almost instantly, and she let her tongue twine with his, dancing the same way they had been for years, every second of it still feeling like the first time. He was rubbing her spine with two fingers, and as he hit a sensitive point Lily gasped, arching her back, and Nico, his chest rumbling with laughter, took advantage of her further opened mouth to penetrate deeper.

When they broke apart, they were both panting, and Nico observed with a smirk that her lips were swollen and her eyes bright but slightly dazed. She looked like a girl well-kissed.

"I missed you," he said, pressing her breathless body to his chest.

"You just had to spend the whole week in LA," Lily mumbled, still annoyed over his absence. "I had no one to walk on the beach with me!"

"That's only because you insist on taking your walks at two in the morning," Nico chuckled, "And I'm usually the only person awake."

"No," she said sulkily, "It's just that everyone else is doing…other things."

"And would you like to?" he asked, waggling his eyebrows at her.

"Shut up," Lily blushed, slapping his firm chest lightly, and then leaving her hand there, slowly tracing his pectoral muscles through the thin black shirt he'd worn. Her hand inched down, fingering his abs, and Nico felt his breathing starting to become shallow. If she didn't stop soon…

"Hey, the countdown's starting soon!" Percy bellowed over the music and noise in the room. "Everyone in the living room!"

A few moments later, they all crowded into the living room. Some couples had begun celebrating early – Katie had her arms and lips firmly planted on Travis, and several others had followed their lead, Jessie and Leo included. Annabeth was pulling out glasses in the kitchen, and Percy had a bottle of champagne ready. Lily leaned back against Nico's chest, surveying the scene.

"I love these guys," she whispered.

"Love you too," Nico chuckled.

"It's 11:59!" Someone shouted, and the room erupted in noise again.

Lily turned to say something to Nico, and then frowned. Where was he? She looked down, and gasped.

He was on one knee, a small shimmering black box open in his hand, a slender and beautiful ring inside it.

"I'm no good at making speeches," Nico said softly, "But Lily, I love you, and I want to spend every moment I have left with you." He paused, seeming to search for words, and then looked up at her. "Marry me?"

The countdown had begun behind her, the announcer's voice loud on the TV. The room was silent – Lily had a feeling everyone had cottoned on to what was happening. But she could only stare at her boyfriend, her heart hammering in her chest, frozen.

Just when Nico had begun to look worried, and the announcer's voice had just shouted out a loud "Eight!" Lily shrieked, "Yes! Yes yes yes yes yes!"

She flung herself at Nico, knocking him over as they kissed again, their lips opening and closing together, his hands on her back and in her hair. Nico pulled out of the kiss and slipped the ring over her finger – it was a band formed solely of blue topaz, and it glimmered beautifully in the candlelight.

His eyes were so close, and Lily felt tears forming, seeing her excitement and happiness mirrored in his gaze. "I love you," she whispered, hugging him close, pressing her face into his warm neck, loving the way his strong arms wrapped tightly around her waist, making her feel so secure and loved.

"I love you too," he breathed, kissing her hair and standing up in the same movement, pulling her up with him.

"We're getting married!" Lily screamed, tackling him with another hug, and this time Nico lifted her clear off the floor, spinning her around and laughing.

"Yes we are!" he shouted, dipping her backwards and kissing her deeply. "Would you believe," he muttered, in between kisses, "I've been carrying that ring in my pocket for two weeks, wondering when and how to give it to you?"

Lily giggled, beaming up at him. "I can believe it," she said, gasping at his lips moved to her collarbone. "You take forever to make up your mind."

"I've made it up now," he said, grinning roguishly, and swooped down to claim her mouth again.

Someone cleared his throat behind them, and Lily opened her eyes to feel Nico's lips and tongue leaving her mouth, making her feel strangely empty.

"Happy New Year?" Percy said cautiously, faltering under Nico's irritated gaze.

"Seriously, Percy?" Nico glared. "Happy New Year. Now shut up and let me kiss my fiancée in peace!"

But it was not to be. Annabeth intruded, hugging Lily tightly and shrieking congratulations, and suddenly there was a throng of girls where moments ago only his girl had been, and Nico groaned, leaning back against the wall and giving Percy his scariest glare. It was working. He hadn't seen the son of Poseidon look so scared in years.

Snickering, Nico pulled Percy in for a quick hug.

"Congratulations," Percy grinned, "But I don't know if I should be congratulating you. Do you have any idea what you're in for?"

Nico smirked. "Better idea than you know."

Percy blanched.

Lily came out of nowhere, her arms trapping her brother and fiancé at the same time, holding them both tightly.

"Congratulations," Percy smiled down at her. "Nico, you keep her happy, got it? Or you're going to have to deal with me."

"I will," Nico said seriously, looking down at the beautiful girl sparkling with smiles at his side, nuzzling into her neck. "I love you, princess," he told her softly.

Lily kissed him lightly, keeping it chaste this time. "You too, darling."

He raised his eyebrows. "Darling?"

"Honey? Sweetie? Sweetie-pie? Teddy bear?"

Percy started laughing.

Nico groaned. "Can we please just stick with Nico?"

Lily was grinning, and about to reply, when Jessie's scream cut through everything else.

"Nico! You ruined her hair!"

Lily smiled, twining her arms around Nico's chest as she felt her hair come loose. This was definitely the best night of her life – but she was sure he was going to keep changing her mind about that.


	2. Be Here

**A/N: This chapter was written in response to a request from ****XxLostInTheMusicxX, so you have her to thank for this! I hope you like it! ****Quick disclaimer: I am in no way hating on Glee in this chapter! Yes, I love Sherlock, but my best friend's all time favorite show is Glee, and that's not actually relevant but basically I've not even seen enough of it to judge. It kind of just jumped in there. So don't be mad, I'm not trying to judge! **

Be Here

Lily stumbled tiredly into her flat, tossing the keys onto the couch as she dropped her bag down on top of them. Jessie wasn't home yet, wouldn't be till eight, which gave her about two hours to herself before dinner. University finals, she decided, really sucked. Thankfully, she would soon have her Master's thesis in hand, but there was still one more semester to go.

Abandoning the fridge in favor of the freezer, Lily found herself flopping down onto the fuzzy, burnt-orange couch with a quart of coffee ice cream in one hand and a spoon in the other. Not exactly healthy, but hey, she could use the sugar. And caffeine. Jessie was a sweetheart, but sometimes she was just too energetic. Sometimes Lily needed caffeine in order to be able to handle her flatmate.

Three spoonfuls of the heart-attack-in-a-box later, Lily hefted the remote in her hand and switched on the DVR, settling back into the couch she had insisted on buying (Jessie had hated it on sight, but it was so comfortable Lily couldn't resist) as the first episode of Sherlock jumped into life on the screen. British accents were always so soothing, and the acting talent on the show was fantastic. So much better than that silly show Jessie liked where they were always singing. Glee. What kind of a name for a show was that?

The sound from the television was strangely soothing – probably something to do with Benedict Cumberbatch's amazingly deep voice, she decided. Nico's voice was deep, yes, but not such a resonant baritone. And definitely not with that accent.

Her phone buzzed from inside her bag, and Lily retrieved the BlackBerry, frowning as she read the short text from Nico.

_Can't make it tonight. Sick._

Abandoning the dessert, she tapped out a response. _How sick? With what? _

_ Dunno. Feel like crap. _

Lily rolled her eyes. She had a feeling Nico had never even learned to use a thermometer. How her fiancé had survived so many years as a demigod was beyond her.

_Where are you? _She asked.

_Home_.

_I'm coming. _Stuffing some extra ice cream in her mouth to ensure she kept awake for at least a few more hours, Lily sprinted to her room, grabbed a purse and stuffed Advil, her phone, her iPod, a packet of tissues, Tylenol (for some reason she found the sweet taste comforting, and who knew when it would come in handy), Band-Aids, and anything else she could lay her hands on, including a stray thermometer, before scribbling a quick note out for Jessie and taping it to the fridge. Whenever Jessie came home, she headed straight for food, so it was unlikely she would miss the fluorescent pink sticky-note.

Flagging down a cab, Lily hopped inside, watching her reflection in the window as the sky darkened slightly on the opposite side of the slightly grimy glass. Her hair was a mess, she had no makeup on, and there were bags under her eyes. Terrible. But in the sleep-deprived state she was in, an attempt to even apply eyeliner would probably leave her looking like a two-year-old had drawn shaky ovals around her eyes as a joke.

The traffic was painfully slow, and the cabbie seemed to be just as tired as she was; the only sound in the cab was that of the radio filtering in softly, playing a song that seemed vaguely familiar. One of Nico's favorite bands. Snow Patrol, was it? She was pretty sure it was. The melody was slow, soothing, lulling, and she fought to stay awake as her eyelids began drooping against her will. Popping open her purse, Lily cracked open a tin of peppermint Altoids and slipped one between her lips. Nico always made fun of her obsession with all things British, but she'd brought the mints along knowing that he secretly loved them too. And the sharp peppermint taste helped her stay awake too.

The song changed to something louder, with far more electric guitar, and she straightened her spine as the cab pulled up outside of the high-rise Nico lived in. "Thank you," Lily mumbled as she counted out the change, tipping the cash into the driver's hand before escaping the confines of the cab. Sometimes her claustrophobia got the better of her – especially when she was alone. And somehow she never felt quite safe in cabs.

Elevators, too, triggered her claustrophobia, and Lily skipped up the stairs to the sixth floor, panting heavily by the time she reached Nico's door. She really needed to hit the gym soon. Leaning against the doorframe, she jammed her thumb into the doorbell, waiting five seconds before ringing it again. Her little code to Nico. Two rings meant it was her. He rarely opened the door otherwise.

A yawn overcame her as she waited, and therefore Lily didn't hear footfalls on the other side of the door. When Nico pulled the door open, she fell straight through, colliding with his chest.

"Hey!" Nico pushed her upright, kicking the door shut and locking it before eyeing her warily. "Are you okay?"

"Just sleepy," Lily assured him, tiptoeing to kiss his stubbly jaw. "Should you even be on your feet right now?"

"I'm fine," Nico said unconvincingly, leading her back towards his small living room and collapsing onto one end of the couch. "Just a little headache."

"Mhm," she said, retrieving the thermometer from her bag. And of course Nico had the predicted reaction.

"I'm not sick!" he protested, scrambling away from her as if she were holding a torture instrument. "I don't need that!"

"Yes you do," she sighed, knowing perfectly well that he was going to put up a fight. "Did you have any ambrosia or nectar at least? I know you have it."

"Uhhh…"

"You don't even have a good excuse, do you?"

"Football!" Nico pointed dramatically at the TV, where a football game was indeed in progress.

"For the love of Poseidon," Lily groaned, kneeling up on the couch, "Do you never do anything for yourself?" She pressed the back of her hand against his forehead and hissed in surprise. He was literally burning up. "Don't move," she snapped worriedly, dashing over to the cupboard he kept his "medical supplies" in and coming back with a packet of slightly squished ambrosia. Why he had kept the bottle of nectar on _top _of the ambrosia was beyond her.

He devoured the square she gave him, and took half of another when she wasn't looking. Lily slapped his hand.

"What?" Nico said petulantly, giving her his best pouting face. Admittedly, his wasn't as good as Percy's, but children of Hades were far more talented at scowling than pouting anyway.

"You know that's not good for you," she sighed, shaking the thermometer to get the mercury level below 96 degrees Fahrenheit and handing it to him. "Now come on. We need to know if you have a fever."

Five minutes later Lily smacked her fist into her forehead in frustration. The thermometer read 102.1 degrees. This was _bad_. And on top of that, Nico was refusing point-blank to take the Advil she'd brought with her. "If you don't take it," she threatened, brandishing a glass of water and the pill at him, "I'm taking you to the hospital. And you can explain why you refused to take medication when I'm practically throwing it at you!"

"Don't need it," Nico said hoarsely, staring persistently at the game on TV. "'m not sick."

Glaring at the back of his silky head, Lily pulled out her phone and punched in Jessie's number. Her friend had better have some good advice.

"Yes?" Jessie sounded a little annoyed and out of breath, but Lily ignored her. She needed _help_.

"Jessie, Nico's sick! He's –"

"I am not sick!" Nico bellowed, and promptly collapsed into a coughing fit, loudly enough to be heard over the phone.

"Yes you are," Lily said condescendingly, rubbing circles into his muscled back as he coughed. "He's got a fever of 102, Jessie, and I can't get him to take anything. What do I do?"

Jessie did something unexpected. She laughed.

"This isn't funny," Lily snapped, suddenly wanting to hurl her phone at the wall.

"Sorry," Jessie grinned. Lily could _hear_ her friend smiling like Cheshire Cat. "But honestly, it's going to take a lot more than a fever of 102 to take down a son of Hades. Leo here would be incapacitated at that point, but for people like you and Nico and Percy and all, from what I've heard, you guys can handle up to a fever of about 108 before your systems crash."

"And you heard this where?" Lily forgave her own skepticism. If she sat around waiting for his fever to get that high, he could bloody well die!

"You'd be surprised what you hear in the Apollo cabin after hours," Jessie smirked down the line. "Will once told a story about how Annabeth broke his arm when he caused Percy pain while resetting his dislocated shoulder. Apparently Wise Girl _forgot _that repositioning a dislocated limb always hurts. She hates the story, because Percy always teases her about how much she loves him, so Will makes sure he tells it as much as possible." Lily hissed out an impatient breath, and Jessie took the hint. "So the point is not to worry about him. Just make sure he gets some shut-eye and he'll be back to glaring at everyone in no time."

Lily snorted, not convinced. Nico was just about the most bull-headed person on the planet. Especially when football was involved. "I'll try," she sighed, smirking when she heard Leo mumble something in the background. Suddenly she knew why Jessie had been so breathless. "Have fun with Leo," she teased, hanging up before her friend could respond.

"I don't need sleep," Nico declared the moment she ended the call, eyeing her stubbornly. "I'm perfectly fine."

"Mhm," she said, walking over to him and mentally groaning when he clenched his fist over the remote control. "Nico, come on, you need to turn that off."

"Sit with me?"

And how could she say no to those pleadingly large dark eyes? With a sigh of defeat, Lily collapsed next to him, curling into his side, alarmed by the heat he was radiating. Nico was a son of Hades – he wasn't supposed to be this hot! Within seconds she had kicked off her socks and her sweatshirt, left in her faded blue flare jeans and a Linkin Park t-shirt she had commandeered from Nico's closet a few months ago.

And of course, seconds later, Nico's hand closed around her thigh. She would have snapped out a stinging rejection of his attempt to lead into a kiss when he began to rub her leg, his fingers working expertly against the denim, and Lily involuntarily relaxed against him until her entire body felt like jelly. What he could do with one hand, against barely a few inches of her body, was amazing.

"Nico, you're sick, you –"

"Shut up," Nico said hoarsely, ducking down towards her, his lips probing hers gently. And Lily could proudly say, later on, that she withstood his attempt to seduce her for about all of five seconds. Then she melted into him, letting him take over, sliding closer to him until she was practically in his lap. Maybe she should be.

The next few minutes were a blur. She was aware of her lips parting to let him in, twining her tongue in that eternal ritual with his, but all she could really think of was how _right _this was, his hands on her waist and back and leg and hip, hers exploring every muscle, every line of his body, their wonder in exploring the body of the other never ceasing. Lily broke the kiss without warning, sliding forward in his lap, her hips flush against him, dipping her head and attacking the skin where his neck curved into his shoulder with her teeth and mouth, smirking when he groaned, the sound sending delicious vibrations through her body. In moments, she had left a very defined purplish mark, and settled back to examine her handiwork.

A gasp left her when she suddenly felt something warm and wet right below the right side of her collarbone, and she glanced down to see the top of Nico's dark head. He always knew exactly how to use his mouth to drive her crazy, and she felt as if he was setting off every nerve ending in her skin, fireworks exploding behind her eyes as she gripped his strong shoulders tightly to steady herself as he worked to mark her as his own. But suddenly he stopped, and she could feel his breath coming unevenly against the skin he had exposed by dragging down the neck of her shirt slightly.

And then he coughed. A deep, hacking, ugly cough.

Lily wanted to curl up and cry. She had been enjoying the feel of his lips on her – but the disappointment faded, replaced with concern, as he continued to cough. Within moments she had pried his lips apart and tipped some more nectar down his throat, sending a quick prayer to Apollo that Nico could handle another sip of the godly drink. Thankfully, he could.

"You need to get to bed," Lily ordered gently, frowning when he didn't argue. He must've been feeling much worse if he couldn't even muster the strength to protest. It took a while, but eventually she coaxed him up from the couch, letting him lean on her as they stumbled towards his bedroom. After another few moments of persuasion, Nico kicked his Vans off and collapsed onto his bed barely seconds after she whipped the sheets off.

"Get some sleep," Lily whispered, dropping a lingering kiss against his overheating forehead before dragging the covers up to cover him. She nearly jumped out of her skin when his hand grasped her wrist tightly.

"Don't go," Nico rasped, his dark eyes finding and holding hers. Was that fear in his eyes? And suddenly Lily remembered the look in those obsidian orbs the first time he had told her of how he had lost his sister, of how he had dreamed of her death for years, how it had taken him so long to come to peace with losing the last family member he had. Blinking back tears, wanting to comfort him now that he needed it so desperately, humbled that he trusted her enough to show her this side of himself, Lily slipped beneath the covers, cuddling up to him.

"I'll always be here," she promised, unable to resist sliding her hand up his shirt and caressing his pectoral muscles, grinning as he shuddered slightly. His chest was ticklish – and he'd made her promise not to share the news. But that didn't mean she didn't like to take advantage of it from time to time. "But you are going to sleep, and nothing else."

"Okay," Nico mumbled, his breathing slowing as he crushed her against him, burying his face into the crook of her neck, into her hair. Lily wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing the side of his head as he burrowed into her, almost frightened by the overwhelming love for this young man that she could feel radiating from somewhere deep inside of her. She would gladly live and suffer to spare him more pain. But being with him like this, peacefully lying together, no heated kisses or steamy glances or illicit touches to ruin the innocence of the moment, was what she enjoyed most.

The television crackled from the outside room, droning on softly as the commentator delivered his opinion on the game, but inside the dark room Lily hummed softly a tune she remembered from her own childhood, lulling Nico to sleep, his breath brushing lightly over her shoulder, like the wing of a bird taking flight.

**A/N: Reviews may lead to another chapter! And I would love requests from you guys so I know what to write next!**


	3. Never Growing Up

**A/N: And here we are again, everybody! Hope you enjoy this next chapter, but before we go there, I would like to clarify that no, that was **_**not **_**a lemon that happened in the previous chapter. They just slept. Nothing else. And no, they have not done **_**that **_**yet, as a few other people were asking. I'm a bit traditional sometimes, and…yeah. Also, thank you everybody who reviewed, it made me so happy! A lot of you had suggestions for things you wanted to see in future chapters, which was very exciting – this chapter is a response to a request from little-miss-fire-starter. I will be getting to the other requests soon, stay tuned! **

Never Growing Up

"Wake up, we're going to be late! I called you two down three hours ago! Get up, come on – ouch!" Annabeth's yell of pain smashed the few remaining vestiges of dreams in Lily's mind to smithereens, and she sat bolt upright, staring around wildly.

"What – oh." It took all of ten seconds to figure out why Annabeth had a rapidly darkening bruise on her tanned cheek. She'd been trying to shake Jessie awake, and Apollo's hot-tempered daughter _hated _being woken before she was good and ready.

"Sorry," Jessie yawned, stretching and yawning. "I can help you with that, just lemme get up." Forgetting that she was wrapped in a sleeping bag, lying on the floor, Jessie tried to stand without unzipping the material around her and promptly fell over, flat on her face. Lily sniggered, crawling uncoordinatedly out of her own sleeping bag and banging her knee on the sharp edge of Annabeth's bed, the blow barely softened by the silver bedspread.

"Damn it!"

"You two are such disasters in the morning," Annabeth sniffed, rummaging around in a drawer of her dresser before producing an orange rubber band to hold her ponytail up with. "Jessie, if you're going to get rid of the bruise, now would be a good time."

"Coming," Jessie mumbled, straightening out the oversize shirt of Leo's she was wearing with her sleep pants as she stumbled over blearily. Lily hobbled over to them both, trying to pat down the rat's nest her hair had become as she settled down comfortably on Annabeth's bed, nursing her knee.

In minutes, Jessie had passed her fingers over Annabeth's wounded cheek, murmuring something in Ancient Greek, and dipped her finger in nectar to rub into the mark, which vanished almost instantly. "Better?"

"Much," Annabeth replied absently, leaning into the mirror to examine her face. Then she brought her wrist up, checking the time on a Mickey Mouse watch she'd gotten from her father for her tenth birthday, and yelped. "Go and shower, we only have twenty minutes to leave! What on earth were you two thinking?"

"It's not our fault we had a late night," Jessie groused, rifling through her mess of a suitcase to find something to wear. "Just because you managed to fall asleep halfway through the movie." She held up a tank top, frowning at it before tossing it over her shoulder. It hit Lily in the face.

"Jess," she groaned, peeling the soft fabric away from her skin, "You're in Annabeth's house, not your own. Stop throwing all your stuff ar – ow!" Lily growled as an eyeliner pencil hit her forehead and bounced off onto the bed, where it lay innocently. Pausing to take careful aim – she couldn't hit people behind her without looking, the way Jessie could – Lily hurled the pencil back. Of course, with her pathetic sense of aim, it flew over Jessie's red head and collapsed after a nasty thud at the foot of the wall.

"Oi! Be careful with my stuff!" Jessie retrieved the abused eyeliner, snapping it into a makeup case Lily was convinced she never actually used – from what she could see, the sparkly, shocking pink suitcase had two bottles of nail polish and a lip gloss haphazardly lying among the clothes and the rest of the jumble squashed in there.

"'Oi'?" Annabeth raised her eyebrows. "Since when did you talk like that?"

"Since Lily introduced me to British television," Jessie said airily, scooping up her towel and wandering into the bathroom as if unaware the door had existed until just then.

Annabeth's phone buzzed, and she grinned at the screen before tapping out a quick reply to the text.

"Percy?" Lily dropped to her knees, dragging her suitcase out from beneath Annabeth's bed and unzipping it. When they had gotten married, Annabeth and Percy had bought a small flat in San Francisco, with a lovely view of the bay, since Annabeth had often wanted to live in her hometown and she hated hotels. It was a lovely flat, really, but there were only two bedrooms – the master bedroom, which the three girls were sharing, and the guest room, in which Percy was sleeping. The one thing Percy had insisted on was installing a TV in each room in the house. No surprises there. Nico and Leo had decided to camp out in the living room, and had refused to let Percy sleep on the couch, since they "had plans for it." Come to think of it, Lily mused, no one knew what they'd done the previous night.

"Yeah, he says they've all spent ten minutes arguing over who's going to come in here and see what exactly we're doing, so he thought it would be faster to text."

"What did you tell him?"

Annabeth hit a button on the screen with such finality that it just had to be the "send" button. "I said we'll be out in two minutes."

A very audible groan came from the direction of the living room, and Lily smirked at her sister-in-law. "I'll bet that's them wondering when they're getting breakfast."

"I tried teaching Percy to cook," Annabeth sighed, fishing out a bottle of sunscreen and staring at her purse, wondering if she could fit it inside – Lily thought it looked unlikely – "And all I can say is that we're damn lucky he's a son of Poseidon."

"Seaweed Brain," Lily snorted, fondly remembering Annabeth's nickname for Percy. "How in the heck did you come up with that, anyway? Leo's been trying for years, and he still hasn't got anything better than 'Ghost Lover' or 'Death Whiz' for Nico."

"Child of Athena, remember? We're better at using our brains than the rest of –"

"Rest of us puny mortals, yes, we know," Jessie interrupted, coming out of the bathroom toweling her damp hair.

Lily grabbed her things and headed for the shower, laughing as Annabeth hissed with irritation. Best. Morning. Ever.

-:-

When she emerged, letting her wet hair drip and wet her shirt – it was _hot, _since it was the middle of July and Percy had wisely forgotten to install any air conditioning – Lily found Jessie sitting on her offensively pink suitcase while Annabeth struggled to zip it shut.

"Told you not to pack so much," she said, tossing the wet towel into the laundry basket and beginning to search for shoes.

"Are you ready?" Jessie asked, and Lily gave a loud "Ha!" of triumph before turning, a pair of sandals in her hand.

"Am now," she grinned, balancing awkwardly on one foot as she slid one shoe on, and then switching to the other foot.

"Annabeth, you make breakfast," Jessie decided, making the blonde frown.

"Why me?"

"Because you're the only one who'll actually do it," Jessie said, laughing as Annabeth swung a half-hearted punch her way.

"You're as bad as Percy," Annabeth groused. "Do you ever think about anything besides food?"

"Nope," Lily sang happily, pulling Jessie up from the ground as they scampered towards the door, "And we are not ashamed!"

But it turned out that Annabeth didn't have to do anything, because Nico had lost his temper half an hour ago and gone out with Leo to get takeaway.

"Pizza!" Jessie yelled, shoving Leo out of the way so she could grab a slice. "Whose idea was this?"

"Mine," Leo said proudly, watching with approval as Jessie reached for a can of Sprite.

"I think I need coffee," Annabeth said, a little faintly, and Lily had to smile as Percy passed her a mug. He knew her so well.

"Remind me," Lily said, sinking into the orange sofa besides Nico, who was curled up at its other end, fast asleep, "Where are we going?"

Leo choked on what appeared to be his fourth slice, judging by the number of uneaten crusts on his plate, and Percy thumped him so hard on the back that he bellowed with pain. "How do you not know? We've been talking about it all of yesterday!" he wheezed.

"We went shopping, remember?" Jessie interjected, slapping Percy's wrist as he reached for the last can of Sprite, snatching it from the coffee table before he could try again and popping the tab. "I don't know what you guys are in such a rush to do either."

"Percy and I decided that we're going to this place called Great America," Leo explained, looking a tad put out that she hadn't known.

"Percy and you?" Lily raised her eyebrows. "What about Nico?"

Blinking, Percy turned to face her. "Wasn't he with you?"

"Of course he wasn't with us, Jessie just told you we went shopping, why would he come?" Annabeth demanded, taking another long sip of coffee.

"Well he didn't show up here until last night, and he and Leo – wait, what _did _you two do yesterday?"

"We watched movies," Leo yawned, rubbing his reddened eyes, "And we didn't include you because you would tell Annabeth and she would nag us to go to sleep."

"Let me guess, you didn't get any sleep last night," Lily deadpanned, staring at Nico's softly snoring form.

"I did, at around three in the morning. That idiot" – Leo nodded at Nico, ignoring Lily's scowl – "stayed up all night talking to some ghost called Bianca."

A tight feeling twisted Lily's gut, and she focused on keeping her face calm, even as guilt flooded her. The previous day had been the anniversary of Bianca's death. Nico had only told her a few years ago, but he always liked to be alone every time it rolled around, and she knew full well that it was wise to give a son of Hades his space. Reaching out, she squeezed Nico's shoulder, lightly, not wanting to wake him.

"I'll keep this in the car," Annabeth said quickly, covering up the awkward silence as she hefted the half-empty pizza box in her hand, "And if he's hungry when we wakes up he can have some. Now come on, we need to get going if we're going to reach before twelve."

"How are we getting him in the car?" Lily wanted to know.

Percy frowned. "Um…"

"Wake him up, and let him sleep some more once we reach the car," Annabeth ordered, nudging Jessie with her foot to get her off the ground. "Move, everyone!"

"Aye, aye, captain!" Leo snapped a salute before running ahead of Annabeth to the minivan she had borrowed from her father.

"Nico," Lily whispered, scooting closer to him on the couch and shaking his shoulder. "Nico, wake up."

He mumbled something indistinct and flipped so that he was lying on his stomach, his face buried in a pillow. "Mmh."

"Need help?" Jessie asked with a rather wicked gleam in her eye, leaning over the back of the couch.

"Please," Lily said, wondering what her friend was about to do.

"Don't worry," Jessie smirked, "This _always _wakes Leo up, and he's a deeper sleeper than Nico. At least I think he is." She paused, and then grinned. "Deeper sleeper. I'm a poet!" At a wry look from Percy, she rolled her eyes, cleared her throat, and took a deep breath. And burst into song. Or, more accurately in Lily's opinion, began screaming at the top of her lungs – somehow in tune. "Singing Radiohead at the top of our – ARGH!"

Nico bolted upright, his forehead colliding with Jessie's, and they both yelled as she fell backwards onto the floor and he collapsed back against the arm of the sofa. "What the_ hell _was that?" Nico demanded.

"That is Jessie's idea of an alarm, amigo," Leo said sympathetically, patting Nico's messy mop of hair. "You need a haircut, bud."

Nico huffed, smoothing down his overgrown hair. "It's _fine_." He glared as Jessie emerged theatrically from behind the sofa, her eyes crossed and her hair standing up in every possible direction, and then some.

"Come on, Jessie, it didn't hurt that much," Lily sighed. Why was it that even though she was younger than them all, she felt like a grandmother in comparison? "You both have hard heads, anyway. You'll be fine. Nico, we just got to get in the car and then you can pass out again, okay?" She frowned and leaned closer. "Are you…okay?"

He nodded, but didn't opt for a kiss the normally did when he saw her. Instead he shuffled down the hall, bouncing off the corner of the wall before somehow making it out the door. Lily didn't realize she was staring after him, hugging her knees to her chest, until Jessie leaped easily over the back of the sofa to join her, patting the aforementioned knees teasingly.

"I saw your face," she singsonged. "Sad we missed our good morning kiss, hmm?"

"Shut up."

"Blushing."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Am –"

"WOULD YOU TWO SHUT UP AND GET IN THE CAR?" Percy bellowed, and they shared an eye roll before standing.

"He'll be alright," Jessie whispered – she was the only one Lily had told about Bianca's death anniversary, besides Percy, who already knew. "He's a tough cookie, remember. And speaking of cookies, if we could stop off somewhere, I'd like one."

When they piled into the minivan, Nico was sitting shotgun, hunched up over a thermos of what smelled like coffee, red-eyed and miserable-looking. Lily itched to touch him, to ruffle his hair, something, but he wasn't like Leo, who was currently letting Jessie attempt to braid his curls. When Nico was hurting or irritated, it was best to stay away until he cooled off. He let her approach before anyone else, but even Lily felt that distance between them at times. And even after all these years, even with that beautiful engagement ring sparkling on her finger, it still hurt. But she understood, with his past history, with the trauma of losing his whole family, that he would never quite be whole again. It didn't matter. She would take and love and cherish every piece of him that was still his.

"So how long is it going to take?" Percy asked from the seat beside Lily's – she was sitting behind Nico, he behind Annabeth.

"Depends, at least an hour," Annabeth answered, turning the key in the ignition as Nico gulped more coffee and gasped.

"You should've let me add cream," Percy chided, and Lily sat straight up.

"He's drinking it black?"

"Yeah," her brother cringed, and Lily couldn't help casting a concerned glance at the back of Nico's silky head. He _hated _black coffee, he always wanted both cream and sugar.

"Nico," Lily said, leaning forward, "Can I have a sip of that?" She'd expected a refusal, but instead he silently passed the thermos back. She could see him in the rearview mirror, wan and exhausted looking. So pale.

Raising the thermos to her lips she took a quick sip, and instantly gagged. It was beyond black, so bitter that she felt as though every cell in her body was screaming in protest. And it was _sweet_. But it was worth it. Nico's quiet chuckle made her heartstrings thrum in sympathy, and he slipped her a wink in the mirror, suddenly looking more alive than he had in a while. _That boy is so adorable sometimes_, she thought to herself, giving him the disgusting concoction back as she fought to wipe away her grin and send him a glare. He'd caught her watching him in the reflection. Damn.

Forty-five minutes later, Lily, Jessie, Leo and Percy had delivered two stirring renditions of Ninety-Nine Bottles of Beer on the Wall, and Annabeth was so frustrated that her hands were actually quaking on the wheel. Nico had his brow furrowed and was biting his lip, but occasionally the corners of his mouth would twitch as Annabeth muttered something under her breath and changed lanes.

"One more time?" Jessie panted, a little out of breath from all the shouting. "For luck?"

"NO!" Annabeth and Nico shouted, and Percy and Lily shared a grin as Leo groaned from the back.

"But I'm bored," the son of Hephaestus whined.

"Well you can stop, because we're here," Annabeth snapped, turning neatly onto the ramp leading off the freeway. "And so help me, if any of you start singing on the way back…"

Jessie helpfully chose this moment to start humming, and it was with ill grace that Annabeth parked the car and barked at everyone to get out. Jessie passed around her bottle of sunscreen in the shade of the opened trunk, and Lily took the chance to pull Nico to the side.

"I'm fine," he said softly, before she could ask. When she didn't look convinced, he smiled, a little bitterly. "I've had years to adjust to this, remember? Just sleepy." Calloused fingers pushed her hair back behind her ear, and just as he was leaning forward, Leo interrupted them.

"Death Boy, you're probably going to need this," Leo announced, tossing the sunscreen at Nico, who snatched it from the air with a scowl.

"Why…" Looking around, Nico suddenly realized where they were, and something Lily couldn't quite place flashed in his eyes before vanishing. Still scowling, he rubbed some of the sunscreen onto his arms and face before giving Lily the bottle and walking over to Percy.

"What was that?" Jessie questioned, coming over to her friend. "He looks…angry?"

Lily nodded, watching him still. Tense shoulders, tendons standing out in his neck, hands nearly curled into complete fists…

"Do you think he's afraid of heights?"

This hadn't occurred to Lily. "What?"

"You know, his father's domain is underground, and we've brought him to an amusement park without warning him about it. For Leo and me, this is fine, we're children of minor gods anyway; You and Percy don't have to worry about water rides, and as long as you stay off planes you should be alright. But wouldn't Nico –"

"– like his feet on the ground?" Lily finished. "Maybe." She sighed. "He'll never admit it though. Even if he is."

Jessie winked at her. "Well, you've now got a great excuse to hold his hand, huh?"

"Yeah," Lily said unenthusiastically, still wishing Nico was back to normal. Even though he wasn't anywhere as effusively happy or affectionate on a daily basis as Percy or Leo, his current behavior was…worrying. She twisted the ring on her finger unconsciously, still trying to adjust to its weight.

As it turned out, Jessie had hit the nail on the head. Again. They were in line to Flight Deck, Annabeth's favorite ride, and Nico's face had turned a nasty shade of green as his dark eyes followed the roaring cart whipping screaming passengers over their heads. Leo was yelling excitedly in Spanish, holding Jessie close as he tried to sneak a sip of the soda she'd insisted on buying as soon as they'd arrived, and Percy was telling Annabeth jokes to try to improve her still sour mood.

This was as good a chance as she was going to get. "Are you afraid of heights?" Lily breathed, standing on tiptoe to whisper into Nico's ear.

"What?" he mumbled, still staring up above them as another set of passengers screamed past.

"Heights."

Nico swallowed, which was all the confirmation she needed.

"Listen," she said, drawing closer and smiling slightly when his hand wrapped suddenly around hers, so tightly she couldn't move her fingers, "I used to be too. Until Percy started dragging me onto rollercoasters. Just…if you're scared, close your eyes. You can't tell when you're upside down or not, and after a while you get used to it. Yeah?"

"This was a bad idea," Nico rasped, abandoning her hand in favor of grasping her waist firmly and pressing her into him. Lily pushed her nose into the side of his chest, inhaling his scent. This was a good position. "My father, he's…god of the Underworld, for the love of Hades! How does anyone expect me to be able to get through something like this! Flying through the air, have you all gone crazy?"

"So are you. Mad. Bonkers. But I'll tell you a secret," she said, pressing her lips to his jaw lightly, "All of the best people are."

Suppressing an eye roll with difficulty, Nico glanced down at her. "Alice in Wonderland."

"Knew I loved you for a reason," Lily grinned, kissing his cheek this time. "Oh, look, we're next."

In minutes they were strapping themselves into the seat, and Percy had twisted around to stare at Nico, who was so pale Lily was afraid he was going to collapse halfway through the ride.

"Relax," Annabeth advised. "This ride lasts about a minute."

"Sixty seconds in which to die," Nico muttered, so low that only Lily heard.

"Shut up, Death Boy," Lily teased, nudging him in the ribs. "She's right, it'll be over soon. And if you don't like it, we won't make you get on another one." She paused. "How come you didn't argue about coming on this one?"

"You wouldn't have gone if I didn't go, and you really wanted to go," he said, leaning over the edge to peer uncomfortably down at the ground.

The ride began to move before Lily could respond, and Nico grasped her hand tightly in his right hand and clung to his seat with his left, screwing his eyes tightly shut, his lips forming what looked suspiciously like a prayer in Ancient Greek. Then came the inevitable plunge, and Lily was laughing and screaming all at once, the wind whipping through her hair and Jessie's shrieks ringing in her ears – Nico's grip on her hand had tightened enough to become seriously painful. But he didn't make a sound.

In what felt like seconds they pulled up back at the starting point, and people began spilling out of the ride, all laughing and shouting and out of breath. But Nico just stayed where he was, gripping his seat as though his life depended on it.

"Come on, the ride's over," Lily said, trying to pry his fingers off the seat. "Nico, come on, one step and then you're back on the ground, right here, look, it's barely a step, you can do it." It took some more coaxing, but he stepped off the ride, and Lily led him back down the slope to the main walkways through the park like a blind man.

"Is he alright?" Annabeth asked, eyeing him worriedly.

"No, he's flickering around the edges," Leo pointed out. "Can we just go hide somewhere dark until this stops? Because it's freaking me out!"

"It's not freakier than the time you got overexcited and caught yourself on fire and nearly burned our flat down," Jessie retorted, and Lily stopped dead.

"He nearly incinerated our flat?"

"Yes," Jessie said resolutely, giving Nico a light push to keep him moving. "Left, let's go left, nice shade with no people around and a bench all to the left. Oh look, ice cream!"

"Wait, how? Like what did you even do, give him a flamethrower?" Lily guided Nico to the bench and then shoved him down, frowning as she noticed just how much the edges of his body were flickering. She'd seen this before, whenever he was incredibly stressed or scared or even angry. Once he had been so furious that his body had gone on autopilot and shadow-traveled itself down to his room in the Underworld. He'd turned up the next day, contrite and without the flickering darkness eating away at his body. "Just breathe," she whispered, coaching him through this the way she had ever since she'd realized just how easy it was for his hot temper and the fear and pain he always kept buried deep within him to overpower him. "You're alright, you're with us. In, out. Good."

"Um, actually, we were…we just…let me go get everyone ice cream." Jessie slipped Leo's wallet out of his pocket and practically flew toward the ice cream vendor, making everyone else laugh.

Percy dropped down on the bench, giving Nico a light nudge with his shoulder. "Hey, you okay?"

Faintly, almost imperceptibly, Nico nodded.

"Well good. Don't want you passing out on us. Like that time you were rescuing me from your father's dungeon – after you put me in there – and by the time we made it out I had to carry you. And what did you say?"

Nico just chuckled lightly, some color returning to his face.

"Something Spiderman related. You remember?"

Pressing her fingers to her lips, Lily shared a smile with Annabeth. Percy was, beyond a doubt, the best brother she could have ever had. He'd figured out what even she hadn't – the best way to draw Nico out of this state was to distract him from it. And besides, she really wanted to know what he'd said.

"Ice cream!" Jessie announced, passing around little cups filled with the dessert. "I got everyone a different flavor, so if I messed up just trade with somebody else. But nobody take mine." She held her strawberry scoops close, glaring at Annabeth, who was eyeing them interestedly.

"Chocolate!" Leo, Percy, and Lily all dove for the same cup. Percy won the struggle for it, and a sulking Leo accepted a mint chocolate chip, while Annabeth went for vanilla and Lily for mango. Nico was staring down at his coffee scoops as if he'd never seen ice cream before.

"So," Percy prompted, sitting back down, "What was it?"

Nico was frowning, as if he couldn't quite place it, the pallor returning as he stared down at his hands. He was shaking, and Lily sat beside him, wrapping her hand around his arm as Jessie and Annabeth began an argument with Leo.

"I don't…" Nico's voice was soft, so soft.

"Yes you do, you remember," Percy said encouragingly, and Nico took a huge, gulping breath, as if trying to force the shadows away. But they were a part of him. He couldn't always shake them off…Not wanting to smother him, noticing how his pupils were dilated and his breathing erratic, Lily stood and joined the others, still listening in to the conversation behind her.

"I was trying to keep you from falling asleep by the Styx," Percy continued softly. "You know this, Nico, we laugh about this all the time, come on. You know this."

"I…Spiderman?"

"Yeah. The old one. First movie. I think."

"Oh," Nico said, and she could hear him grinning in the way he spoke. "With great power comes great need to take a nap."

"Ten points to Hufflepuff!" Percy crowed, and Nico yelled in protest.

"Hey! _Hufflepuff, _are you crazy, how the Zeus would I –"

"Slytherin, then," Percy conceded, and Nico made a sound of agreement.

"Better."

"Is it just me, or is it getting cold?" Annabeth asked, shivering in her t-shirt and shorts.

"Anybody want a spark?" Leo offered, making a flame dance on his palm as clouds gathered in the sky. "And, dude, you kidding me? Clouds? In July? Zeus, what the hell is wrong with you, man?"

Zeus did not take kindly to being referred to so casually. With a loud _boom_, the clouds burst open, and the flame in Leo's hand was snuffed out as people groaned and began looking for cover, some heading back to their cars.

"But we just got here," Percy whined, glaring up at the sky. "I hate you too!" He bellowed up at the clouds, and a couple people passing by smiled at him indulgently.

Lily felt arms wrapping around her waist, and tilted her head back to see Nico bending over her. "Hey, you."

"Thank you," he breathed, wetting his lips.

"That's not a proper thank you." She sighed as his lips found hers, her back arching as she bent backwards into his kiss, curling her fingers around his on her waist. His mouth and skin tasted of rain and smelled heavenly, and his warmth kept her from feeling the chill of the rain, and she could keep doing this forever, the way he knew exactly the way she liked to be kissed, slowly, lovingly, deeply…

"Are you done?" Percy demanded, and Nico pulled up, away from her, letting her relax back against his chest.

"Well, you wanted to reference Spiderman, I was just helping out."

**A/N: I know, I know, lots of pointless fluff, but I hope you liked it! Reviews, please? /offers cookies/ If there's anything you'd like to see in an upcoming chapter, don't be afraid to let me know or ask! Thanks for reading! **


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